Dreaming of Reality
by isumi 'kivic
Summary: When the line between dreams and reality thinned. Which was their reality? Was their dream reality? semi-AU! TezukaFuji, Perfect Pair. Shounen-ai.


Title: Dreaming of Reality

Fandom: Tennis no Oujisama

Pairing: TezukaFuji, FujiTezuka, co-dominance. Somewhat.

Genre: Angst, with too much fluff, actually… XDD

Warning: Shounen-ai, open-ending.

Disclaimer: His birthday or not, Tezuka is Fuji's, and Fuji is Tezuka's, and Konomi-sensei owned the right to let them own each other.

A/N: _**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TEZUKA-BUCHOU!!!!!!**_

Wish you and TeFu all the best~~

A Tennis no Oujisama Fanfiction,

Dreaming of Reality

The sound of tennis balls hitting the ground was always a relief for him. It was calming, almost as if he were in a meditative state.

The chattering and noises made by the club members as after-school practice went on was calming, too, in a sense. It irritated him sometimes, since the Regulars' silly behaviors seemed to have spread all over the club, causing new idiotic incidents and traumatizing after-effects. But he had to admit, he looked forward to each and every new occurrences that happened daily in Seigaku Tennis Club.

He liked tennis. He liked how the wind would rush as he swung his arms and hit the ball, how the ball would make a lovely sound as it bounced on the ground, how he could feel the racket in his grip shook with power as he returned his opponent's ball. He liked Seigaku Tennis Club—its noises, its silly members, its challenging Regulars. He liked the routines they shared—at school, weekends, or even team-bonding activities.

He never mentioned it, but he knew, he admitted that he was content his life.

After all, he was the soundly perfect Tezuka Kunimitsu.

"Tezuka?"

He turned around as the melodious voice greeted his ears, and caught the sight of his honey-haired friend standing on the door, smiling warmly with a black umbrella in hand.

Fuji smiled and said simply, "It's raining."

It was an offer to walk home together.

Tezuka zipped his schoolbag and nodded stoically, striding firmly past the door, locked it, and joined his friend under the umbrella.

He could hear the pitter-patter of the rain as they hit the surface of the umbrella—and it calmed him somewhat. As did his friend's light humming all the way home until they parted ways.

He had to admit that he liked it.

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

"_Tezuka-kun, you should go home already. It's not good for you to stay too long at school, isn't it? Doing so much work… we're grateful of you, but really…"_

_Tezuka glanced sideways as he put in two different-colored folders into the filing cabinets. Kariya-sensei, the student council advisor who was also his History teacher, was yet again looking at him with worried eyes._

_He suppressed the urge to sigh—people had to stop giving him such eyes. "It's my duty as the head of student council."_

"_Yes, but if you're tired, you can always leave it to Manabu-kun," she referred to the student council secretary. Tezuka could catch the 'stop-and-go-home-already' tone in her voice, and knew that it was really his cue to go home._

"_I understand." He said curtly._

_Kariya-sensei looked satisfied._

_He gathered all his belongings and zipped his schoolbag, noting that it wasn't even five in the afternoon yet. Students who were in clubs must not yet be done with their practice—he could hear loud yells and spirited shouts from the tennis club on the courts just below the student council room._

_He shook his head. Taking his schoolbag, he bowed politely to Kariya-sensei, muttering a quick "Thank you very much for today, sensei," and walked off from the room. Manabu would take care of the rest of his work, even though he'd rather do it himself. That student council secretary tended to rush things and did a lot of mistakes. _

_He'd rather have Oishi to do the rest of the paperwork. Or Fuji._

_Ah. He shook his head. No Oishi. He shouldn't be thinking of it now. No Oishi, no Fuji, no Seigaku Regulars. Just him._

_He paused for a second to gaze at the tennis court—at the happy faces exchanging grins, at the exhausted expression of those who had just finished running, at the first-years practicing their swings, at the matches played by the upperclassmen. He listened to the noises—the cheery laughter, the spirited shouts, the sound of the ball hitting the ground, the monotone rhythm of feet pounding on the ground, running…_

_His gaze fell on the corner of the court, at a slender figure with honey brown hair and a pair of sharp cerulean eyes, watching a match intently._

_Tezuka closed his eyes and walked away._

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

Silence was their companion.

They enjoyed it—Tezuka wasn't very good at maintaining conversation and Fuji didn't need words to understand. Words never really mattered to them.

Even now, when the usual noises started outside and grew in pitch, in the empty clubhouse except for him and Fuji, they were comfortable with it. He was comfortable with Fuji on his side, changing into his jersey, casually made a small comment about something as trivial as the weather. He was comfortable standing next to Fuji, folding his school uniform neatly and putting it in his locker, answering Fuji's comment with a nod and watching Fuji tying his shoelaces—each movement, each little gesture so meaningful and natural.

And he was content with that.

It was weird, Tezuka realized, but he didn't want to think too much into it. He simply enjoyed what was between him and Fuji, whatever it was. And judging by the pure, happy smile Fuji gave him, Fuji was enjoying it, too.

He'd call it symbiotic mutualism, but then again, that wasn't quite the term.

He enjoyed the accidental brush of their hands when Fuji stood by his side as they watched Echizen's match, or the ghost of Fuji's breath on his shoulder when Fuji leaned in next to him to see the paper in his hand. He liked walking home in silence with Fuji, and liked the warmth of his friend as they walked under one umbrella as it snowed.

He didn't mind it when Fuji's hand brushed a stranded leaf away from his hair that morning, and didn't ask when Fuji's hand caught his when they walked home that evening, holding it loosely at first, but slowly grew tighter.

"It's cold, ne, Tezuka?"

He knew he didn't have to answer. He knew what the right thing—the most natural reaction—to do was.

He held Fuji's hand just as tight.

And silently, they continued the walk home.

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

_If it wasn't for Yuuta nagging him endlessly to join the club, Fuji would have never considered joining._

_He knew—and he hated it—that Yuuta wanted him to join because their school tennis was very weak, and having him as one of their pillars would at least decrease the degree of shame their school had to face in the tournament. He knew Yuuta himself didn't really like being in the same team with his brother, what with everyone comparing the two of them constantly, but then again, as the only pillar in the club before Fuji himself joined in, Yuuta didn't really have any choice._

_His brother had always seen him as a rival._

_Almost absently, Fuji hit the ball that came to him across the net, sending his opponent tumbling to chase the green-lime ball. His gaze fluttered away to where his younger brother was—clad in Regular jersey, Yuuta was the team's vice-captain. Fuji had refused to be the captain, and let another third-year took the position._

_He was utterly bored. His life had become a meaningless duty—where everyone had become faceless and nameless. Nothing else mattered to him at school except Yuuta, and nothing else mattered to him in this world saved his family. He smiled at everyone, and everyone beamed back at him—an image of a genius, handsome and rich teen—but he never cared to remember the faces those smiles were etched upon, much less their names._

_He was probably the only one who would draw a blank face when someone asked him about his homeroom teacher or his school student council leader._

_He sighed, wondering if only he could meet Tezuka and finally have a match with him—or Echizen, or really, even Eiji. He would enjoy it better than the light rally he'd been doing almost everyday here, and compared to Seigaku—_

_Fuji paused, letting the chance ball slipped._

_Ah, he shouldn't be thinking about them now. Not Seigaku, not Eiji, not Echizen, and most importantly, not Tezuka. Because the mere thought of Tezuka sent his heart racing fast with no apparent reason, and he didn't even know if __**Tezuka was real**__, or if there was someone like Tezuka in this world._

_Almost laughing at himself, Fuji turned around and shook his head._

_That was when he caught a sight of a certain tall figure with dark, unruly hair, clad neatly in school uniform; a glasses shielding his pair of sharp, hazel eyes and a firm, stoical expression on his face._

_For a second, Fuji thought his heart was going to stop._

_Was that really…?_

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

They were walking home together as always, carefully making their way on the slippery lane. Snow had fallen early this year, and with it, came that somewhat-melancholy atmosphere.

They were in their third-year of junior high. Very soon, they would graduate and possibly, they might never meet again.

Fuji looked up as he casually brushed Tezuka's gloved hand with his, trying to sneakily catch Tezuka's finger and hold his hand. It had been their routines—somewhat like a game, Fuji thought. He would silently try to catch Tezuka's hand in his, and Tezuka would wait until Fuji managed to do it, no matter how many times their hands brushed each other. And when Fuji did manage, it was a signal for Tezuka to tighten the hold.

It always worked that way.

And, Fuji thought, if they were never to meet again, he'd be very, very lonely.

"Ne, Tezuka."

There wasn't an answer, but their hands stopped brushing each other, and Tezuka looked at him; a silent question in his hazel gaze.

Fuji let several seconds of silence took a reign over reality, before murmuring almost dazedly, "I don't want to wake up."

Something flickered in Tezuka's eyes, and his face became unreadable.

"I don't understand what you're talking about." He answered curtly, and Fuji chuckled.

"Nothing," he said almost contemplatively. Then, letting out a silvery laugh, he caught Tezuka's hand and repeated, "Nothing."

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

"_This is your chance, Kunimitsu," his mother said, eyes wet with tears, but expression steady. "If the operation goes well, you will be able to do activities like the others."_

_Tezuka stoically nodded—not that he put so much hope into the operation, anyway. He didn't really care. He'd lived all his fourteen years of life with the same weak heart, and though he'd never been able to do what he dreamt of, continuing living this way until he died in approximately two years from now on wouldn't be so bad._

_He hadn't put his heart into anything in his life, so he wouldn't lose anything. Well, maybe he'd miss his family—but that was why he agreed to the operation, to at least gave his family a chance of struggle. Of course, if the operation succeed, he would certainly be able to play tennis like he'd always wanted to. And through tennis, he'd search for his own Seigaku._

_And he might have a chance to know the honey-haired boy who looked a lot like Fuji—but then again, he doubted it would be the same. Fuji was Fuji, after all—and he was just a fragment of his dream._

_If he died, would he stop dreaming? Would he ever meet __**Fuji**__ again? Or will he continued dreaming, since once he died, reality ceased to exist for him?_

_It didn't really matter, though. It was a dream._

_"When will it be?" he asked, absently noting that his cup of green tea had become cold._

_His mother gave a small smile._

"_October seventh."_

_If he weren't the stoic Tezuka Kunimitsu, he would've groan of the irony life gave him. If the operation failed, he'd die on the same day as he was born._

_Fuji would've chuckled at such ironies._

_Then again, he didn't have Fuji in reality._

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

They had just finished one of their routine weekend rally, and now Fuji was handing him a cold water bottle. Saying his curt "Thank you," Tezuka led their way to the bench not far from the street tennis court, giving other people who came to play a chance to use the court.

"It's almost your birthday, ne, Tezuka."

Of course Fuji would remember. And the Tensai had probably had a carefully crafted plan celebrate Tezuka's birthday. Which could be bad, considering the mischievous nature Fuji had hidden in him.

The wind blew quite hard, and different-colored leaves fluttered everywhere. Autumn was beginning, Tezuka reminded himself. That meant the school festival was also getting near, and he would have to face mountainous paperwork to do once he got back to school, as the preparation for the festival progressed still.

"Is your arm okay now?"

They still hadn't had their promised match yet, since Tezuka wanted to make sure that his arm was completely healed before facing Fuji head on. He wanted to give his best, since it was Fuji—his eternal rival and best friend. Or possibly more than that, but Tezuka didn't want to think too much into what was between them.

"Sometimes it hurt if I forced myself too hard," he answered truthfully—there was no need to lie to Fuji, since it was Fuji and Fuji alone knew this. "But it's getting better."

"And you're absolutely sure you want to go to Germany and tried climbing up as a professional player from there." A statement, not a question. Rhetorical, because he knew Fuji already knew his answer.

Therefore, he need not to answer.

But then Fuji leaned sideways and rested his head on his shoulders, and casually asked, "What do you want for your birthday, Tezuka?"

At that very second, Tezuka realized that everything _here_ mattered to him. Seigaku mattered. Tennis mattered. Fuji mattered.

He had a life. A contented one.

Even if it was only _here_.

Without even thinking, words stumbled out of his mouth, "I want to keep dreaming."

For a second, he thought he felt Fuji stiffened, but the Tensai was chuckling fondly at the next second that he wasn't sure if Fuji had really stiffened. Fuji lifted his head up and looked into his hazel gaze—and Tezuka felt lost in the depth of the cerulean orbs.

"You always have a dream, ne, Tezuka."

They wasn't talking about the same context of 'dream', but Tezuka nodded anyway, because this was his reality now.

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

"_Who is that?"_

_Yuuta looked at him strangely. "That's our student council leader. Geez, Aniki, you should know this kind of stuff, you know…"_

"_Now I know." He smiled, hand itching to ruffle his younger brother's hair, but refrained from doing so since he knew Yuuta didn't like it. "What's his name?"_

"_I don't know his first name, but his last name is Tezuka."_

_Fuji wasn't sure if Lady Fate purposefully guiding him to find the same person he met in his dreams—but then he reminded himself, this might not be the same Tezuka, might it? Would, in this bleak and dull reality, a perfect Tezuka Kunimitsu exist?_

_He couldn't understand why he was now patiently standing next to his homeroom teacher—whose name he could never remembered but he seemed to be his teacher's favorite judging from the adoring tone she used while talking to him—asking about the student council leader and his class and who his homeroom teacher was._

"_Sumire-sensei is Tezuka-kun's homeroom teacher. That's her, see? The one sitting nest to the desk by the window." His teacher peered at him curiously. "Do you have a problem with Tezuka-kun, Fuji-kun?"_

"_No," Fuji answered smoothly. "I just have to crosscheck the information I heard. Thank you, sensei."_

_Sumire-sensei reminded him a lot of Ryuuzaki-sensei—she wasn't that old yet, but the tender and caring shine on her eyes were the same. Even the way she talked was similar to Ryuuzaki-sensei—and several times, Fuji caught himself before saying "Ryuuzaki-sensei," when he regarded the math teacher._

"_Ah, it's a little strange that a student as cheerful as you would ask about Tezuka-kun, Fuji-kun," said Sumire-sensei. "I don't think I should tell you more about him though. You should ask him by yourself. He's a good person—he seemed a little intimidating at times for his serious face, but he's very kind."_

"_His full name… really is Tezuka Kunimitsu?" Fuji whispered._

_Sumire-sensei nodded a confirmation. "It will be a bit hard to find him these days…he's supposedly preparing for his operation. He has a weak heart from birth, it really is a pity since he's quite talented in sports, but since he's not able to do hard sports…"_

_Fuji's eyes widened a fraction._

"_And to think he'll be having his operation on his birthday, too…it must be hard for him."_

_His tongue felt heavy to move, as if it was frozen, but the words stumbled out almost like in a rush, "When is his birthday?"_

"_October seventh."_

_Sometimes, Fuji was confused of which was __**his **__reality._

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

"Happy birthday, Tezuka."

Tezuka eyed the small charm Fuji handed to him. There was an origami green-colored ball hanging with the charm—it was easy to guess that Fuji intended it to be a tennis ball.

"Thank you," he said with no apparent expression—but truth be told, his heart became warm.

"It's for your arm," Fuji said casually, dropping his tennis bag next to Tezuka and promptly unbuttoned his school uniform to change into his jersey. "So that we can have our match before you go to Germany."

Tezuka was silent for several moments, eyes fixed on the charm with the origami tennis ball hanging on it. He felt unfair to Fuji for once, and it was odd, because he wasn't supposed to feel unfair to someone from _here_.

Or was he?

"You will have a match with me, right?"

Tezuka knew it was rhetorical, but somewhat, he felt the need to confirm. "Of course."

"It's a promise." Fuji smiled.

Tezuka nodded, putting the charm neatly between his folded school uniforms. Grabbing his racket, he slipped into his jersey and turned to head for the door.

"Tezuka." The sing-song voice halted him as well as the slight tug on his jersey. He turned, only to see Fuji right behind him, smiling serenely as a pair of bright blue eyes bore into his own hazel ones.

"You're fifteen and you've never been kissed."

Tezuka raised an eyebrow at the relevance of the statement.

A streak of mischief adorned Fuji's smile as the shorter teen said softly, "It's a promise so seal it with a kiss?"

It was weird how easy it was for him to bend down slightly and leaned in to place a light kiss on Fuji's soft, pliant lips. It was weird how he Fuji naturally leaned up to kiss back, his hands clasped behind his back, and Tezuka gripped his racket harder.

Against his lips, Fuji murmured something—Tezuka wasn't sure what it was, but he felt it went along the line of "We might not meet again, ne…"

He knew Fuji was referring about his going to Germany.

Well, this was his dream.

But if this was his reality, then he didn't want to dream.

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

_It was raining quite hard that morning, and Fuji stood on the bus stop, looking up almost wistfully at the sky, a black umbrella in his hand. Yuuta had already left for morning practice, and Fuji himself purposefully went to school late. He wasn't in the mood to go to school today._

_He absently noted the mud pooling around his shoes, and thought about how Tezuka Kunimitsu would have his heart operation today. The dream last night, he hoped, was a good omen._

_Opening his hands, Fuji stared at the charm his older sister had given him for his exams next week. It was a good luck charm—Yumiko told him she brought it from a shrine in Hokkaido she visited last week—a hope that he would do his best and had the best luck Lady Fortune could give him._

_He sighed, fully realizing that he didn't really need this kind of stuff._

_Something in his school jacket pocket poked his wrist as he straightened his outfit. Curiously, Fuji pulled the thing out and found a four times four, green-colored paper._

_The next thing he knew, an origami ball was made by his own hands, and he was attaching it onto the small charm._

_It looked good._

_He grinned a little and raised his head to stare across the road._

_A tall figure with brown, unruly hair crowning his head, clad in neat lavender shirt and trousers, stood under the bus stop shelter, together with a middle-aged, beautiful woman on his side._

_Their eyes met, and Fuji lost his breath._

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

_There was no way it could be Fuji._

_Or was there…?_

_Tezuka couldn't blink—heck, he had even forgotten how important it was to breathe—as he watched the slender, honey-haired figure across the street ran across the road, cerulean eyes wide open in disbelief as it locked with his own hazel ones._

_He knew those eyes too well._

"_Tezuka…"_

_Fuji._

_Standing right before him now, was certainly Fuji Shuusuke. Tezuka couldn't be more certain._

_But how? Fuji was his dream, a part of his wish that could never happen. How could Fuji appear before his eyes, so very real and definitely not a fragment of his dream?_

_How did his dream become a reality, yet his reality didn't fade away?_

"_Tezuka…?"_

_It was the questioning tone that snapped him out of his stupor—he knew the tone too well. He understood. Staring at the shorter teen before him, Tezuka realized that Fuji was desperately hoping for his confirmation._

"_Fuji." He said, the smallest hint of smile crept upon his face, and Fuji looked relieved._

"_It's you," was whispered softly into the autumn wind, loud enough only for Tezuka to hear, and strangely, Tezuka felt contented._

_He felt like coming home._

"_Yes," he agreed, knowing that Fuji would be able to hear the sheer disbelief and happiness in that one word._

_A wide smile was offered to him, and he knew he was right._

"_It's today… right? October seventh."_

_October seventh. It was funny how meaningless it should be, but now everything was different. His reality had Fuji, and it changed everything. "Yes."_

_His mother was curiously looking at them, Tezuka knew, but she was wise not to ask anything yet._

_His dream was now his reality, and he was somewhat overwhelmed._

_He wished now he was born normal, like any other child. He wished now that he would be the perfect Tezuka Kunimitsu like he was in his dream. He wished now that he had the talent of the perfect Tezuka Kunimitsu so he would be able to play a match with Fuji right at this moment. He wished for so many things—so, so many thoughts that had never even entered his mind before._

"_Good luck."_

_There was the charm—the same exact one as Fuji in his dream had given him last night, complete with the origami ball attached onto it. Blinking in disbelief, Tezuka stared mutely at the object on Fuji's opened hand, forgetting to take the reasonable action when being offered by someone._

"_I'll be waiting." Fuji said softly, cerulean eyes boring into his hazel ones. "And then, we'll have our routine weekend rally, and I'll run laps as you told me. We'll walk home together when it snows, and I'll make you my own version of Inui juice."_

_He almost laughed at that—the offer to make their own Seigaku paradise._

_So he took the charm, letting his hands clasped on Fuji's smaller one. It was warm, despite Fuji was drenched from head to toe from running across the road under the rain, completely forgetting that an umbrella was clutched all the time in his hand._

"_I'll see you at the court this Saturday, then." Tezuka said, letting a small smile bloomed on his face. "Then maybe, I'll treat you some wasabi sushi."_

_Fuji beamed brightly._

"_Happy birthday, Tezuka."_

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

Echizen grabbed his can of Ponta on the bench he'd previously left to go have a talk with Momo. He sighed a little, noting how blue the sky was.

Tezuka and Fuji weren't coming today.

A smirk appeared on his face as he drank his Ponta with satisfaction. "Mada mada da ne."

As usual, once the souls had found their way out of their problems in reality, he was left alone. Echizen was used to it, really, and he never mind, since that was what made it quite interesting. He still had lots of other problematic souls who needed help, anyway, and he didn't think it would be too quiet around here.

His eyes trailed to Court D, where a certain red-headed teen was hugging his double partner from behind, his noises of "Nya, nya, nya, Oishiii…!!" reverberated around the court.

He should be outlining his plans for the two of them later. It wasn't good for the souls to stay too long in the dream world, because reality was always much better than dreams.

And Echizen would like to see them dreaming of their realities.

It might be a little boring with no Fuji around, though. His mischief always made everything a little more interesting.

A pat on his shoulder, and Echizen turned to see Momoshiro standing behind the bench he was on, grinning widely.

"I don't think we have practice today. I haven't seen Tezuka-buchou anywhere. Fuji-senpai, too." The Seigaku powerhouse sat on his side, looking contemplative. "Should we ask Oishi-senpai about them?"

"Nah," Echizen said nonchalantly with a smirk, and murmured into the wind, "I don't think they'll be coming anymore."

-----o0oTezukaFujio0o-----

A/N: So… eh… was it confusing? The idea kept nagging me and I was all, "I have no idea how to write this!" So if someone couldn't understand what this is all about, the real reality was those in italics. The days in Seigaku that Tezuka and Fuji passed were their dreams. I hope that makes sense…

Please leave a review. If you're still confused, you can always ask~ XD

As an end note, once again…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUCHOU~~~~!!!

May Fuji showers you with more love as we do with you both. *showers TeFu with love*


End file.
